Episode 56: Kim Charlson (Perkins School for the Blind / Watertown Commission on Disability)

Meet Kim Charlson! She's the Executive Director of the Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind as well as the Chair of the Commission on Disability here in Watertown. In this conversation we discuss her journey into disability advocacy, from being one of the first totally blind people to get a master's degree in library science to serving as the first woman president of the American Council of the Blind from 2013-2019 to recent issues and topics being discussed. We also talk about her work as chair of the Commission on Disability in Watertown and the amazing breadth of services offered at the Perkins School for the Blind including teaching blind kids the skills to navigate the world, helping establish international training programs in 20 countries, managing a library of 80,000 braille volumes and 600,000 audiobooks, and even a manufacturing plant that produces the Perkins Brailler, the world's best-selling mechanical braille writing device. Find out more about the Perkins School for the Blind at perkins.orgFind out more about the Watertown Commission on Disability here: www.watertown-ma.gov/351/Commission-on-DisabilitySupport the showHead on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on. Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversationsUpcoming events! Click here to see upcoming live podcast events.